Zurich Stock Exchange: the SMI ends in green and above 11,100 points


Zurich (awp) – The Swiss stock market ended on a positive note on Thursday. After a negative opening, the SMI went up and went back into the green at the end of the morning. It experienced a brief negative jump at the time of the announcements of the European Central Bank (ECB), to immediately head north again and experience a new alert with the increase in weekly jobless claims in the United States, to recover and end above 11,000 points.

In New York, Wall Street fell in the morning, investors digesting business figures and disappointing economic indicators. The market has seen a large series of results since Wednesday’s close, mostly in line with or even above analysts’ expectations, while many investors feared a weighed down quarter.

The SMI ended up 0.68% at 11,134.74 points, the day’s high and after a low at 11,002.17. The SLI gained 0.76% to 1715.81 points and the SPI 0.74% to 14,368.03 points. Of the 30 star stocks, 21 rose and 9 fell.

Today’s podium consists of VAT (+5.0%), Sonova (+3.2%) and Partners Group (+2.9%).

Electrical engineering giant ABB (+1.6%) posted net profit of $379 million between April and June, down by half from the same period a year earlier. This is due to exceptional charges related to the abandonment of a project and the decision to leave Russia. Orders jumped 10% to $8.81 billion, while revenue fell 3% to $7.26 billion.

On Wednesday evening, ABB also delivered some details on the outsourcing of its turbocharger segment grouped within Accelleron. The company will be listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange on October 3.

In the heavyweight camp Roche (-0.5%) weighed on the index, Nestlé (+1.6%) and Novartis (+0.8%) supported it.

Roche maintained its growth path in the first half, driven in particular by the persistence or resurgence of pandemic outbreaks. Citing an expected slump in Covid-1 franchise revenue, management still caps growth prospects for the full year at 5%.

The Basel giant has also announced a series of handovers at the top of its governing bodies. Future chairman of the board of directors, the current managing director (CEO) Severin Schwan must entrust the executive scepter to the head of the Diagnostics unit, Thomas Schinecker, in mid-March next year.

Temenos (-3.0%, quarterly figures after the close) finished at the bottom behind Givaudan (-1.6%) Swisscom (-1.5%).

The Geneva-based flavors and fragrances giant saw its net profitability decline in the first half. Despite rising sales, it posted a net profit of 440 million Swiss francs, against 481 million twelve months earlier, influenced by exchange rate effects, among other things. The objectives for 2025 have been confirmed.

In banking, Credit Suisse (-0.7%) lost ground, Julius Bär (+1.5%) and UBS (+1.6%) gained.

Sika (+1.8%), Schindler (-1.2%) and Lonza (+1.0%) unveil interim results on Friday.

On the broader market, Leonteq (-10.7%) saw its half-year results increase, in a market context marked by high volatility.

Bystronic (-10.6%) struggled in the first half due to lockdowns in China as well as component shortages. Sales targets for the first six months have been delayed.

Cembra Money Bank (-7.3%) saw its half-year performance accelerate over the first six months of the year.

Bossard (+8.2%) shrugged off global difficulties in the first half, significantly accelerating revenue and profitability.

Medmix (+4.6%) saw revenue and profit grow in the first six months of 2022, despite sanctions in Poland. It confirms its annual objectives.

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